Morris Field died on Wednesday; September 28th, 2011 at St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He was a long time Hominy resident, and a proud active member of the American Legion Post 142.  As a retired newspaper editor, he leaves a long legacy of community service.  He may be best known for his mentoring and teaching generations of karate students.   He was 89.

Morris Field was born December 4, 1921 in Lewiston, Montana to Harry Field and Myrtle S. Johnson.

Morris spent most of his life in Hominy and served his country with enlistments in the National Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard. He was a lifetime member of the DAV, VFW and the American Legion for 59 years, serving as Post Historian.

After his military service in World War II Morris attended two trade schools in Dallas, TX and Nashville, TN, where he became an accomplished Linotype Operator. He subsequently worked for weekly and daily newspapers including the Tulsa World/Tribune, Dallas Times Herald, Pawhuska Journal-Capital and The Hominy News.

He owned, and served as Editor and Publisher of the Cedar Vale, KS Messenger. He concluded his career as a Linotype Operator for the Oil and Gas Journal in Tulsa.

Morris is well known for his accomplishments in the martial arts area. At the age of 46 he started learning karate in Oklahoma City. Nineteen years later (1984) he formed the Dragon’s Den School of Martial Arts in Hominy. The club won over 800 trophies in competition. Morris taught over 5,000 students and never charged for his services. In addition to teaching skill sets, he focused on his students learning self-discipline, fitness, and a drug-free lifestyle.

On the way to attaining karate’s highest rank (Montei), he won 12 first place trophies in competition after he was 65 years old. His final rank was 5th Degree Black Belt in the style of Shorin-ryu.

He wrote hundreds of stories for the Hominy News including a regular column on the activities of the Dragon Den, Letters to the Editor, general interest stories, and numerous stories under the pen name of the Penn Creek Prospector.

Capitalizing on his knowledge of letterpress and hot metal printing technology, Morris accumulated the equipment to create the Field Historical Printing Museum in Hominy.

Morris is survived by his son Dean Field of Jennings, OK; daughter Carolyn Sue Kameen of Moreno Valley, CA; his sister Sylvia of Hominy; one grandchild, one great grandchild and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Marie Fletcher, his parents, and siblings Cecil, Hugh, Virginia, Clarice, Victor, Bennie, Louis, and Sam.

Funeral services were held Monday, October 3, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Hominy, OK, with Rev. David Mingus officiating.
Interment in A.J. Powell Cemetery in Hominy, Oklahoma was under the direction of Powell Funeral Home. Casket bearers for the service were John King, Corey Maker, Bryce Krushe, David Casey, Garon Beckett and Kevin King. Musical selections for the service were “In The Garden”, “How Great Thou Art” and “When The Saints Go Marching In” with Frank Hudson as vocalist.